Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Heading off the Hangover

And I don't mean the movie.

With all the festivities around Christmas and New Year's, it's hangover week in a lot of houses.

It seems that, especially as I get older, even if I don't drink all that much, I pay for it the next day. It probably has something to do with being woken up by an energetic three-year old several hours before I'm ever ready...

That's why I was more than a little grateful when the nice people at Fernet Branca sent me an email titled "Get over Your Hangover," along with a real live sample of Fernet Branca itself.

Fernet Branca is an amaro, which basically means it's Italian bitters (or, as Cooper would say, "It's Italian; it's worth more than you're life.") According to herbalists (also Italian, I'm guessing), the liqueur is made of more than 40 herbs that, together, comprise a stellar hangover cure.

Whether it's the herbs or placebo effect, I don't know (or care) but anything that will help out with the morning after is good with me. Plus, a dash of Fernet Branca adds a little depth (and a little topaz color) to a plain old mimosa. It's good, and would make an excellent addition to any New Year's Day brunch bar set-up.

On that note, happy New Year's Eve Eve!

3 comments:

FROM THE RIGHT BANK said...

Hi, Kit! I am the same way. If I have more than 1 drink (maybe 2), I'm completely useless the next day! Ugh, the joys of getting older, huh? Happy New Year to you!

Cail said...

My grandfather (Mom's side) used to drink Amaro Montenegro (also known as "Monty"), and I can only imagine it had something to do with its restorative properties.

The NY Times also just did an article on amari: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/dining/25pour.html Since we brought some Montenegro back from Italy, I felt VERY ahead of the curve.

Kit Pollard said...

Happy New Year to you, too, Alek! Hopefully it'll be a hangover-free one...

Cail - the Fernet Branca reminded me of a sort of darker/duskier version of the Alperol you brought here at Thanksgiving. I think you and Tom are totally ahead of the curve. Maybe I should've written this as a "trendy" post...

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